Glimpse of parents
in infant death case
Bail hearing postponed two weeks, no new charges laid
ALL PHOTOS RYAN TAPLIN/METRO HALIFAX

MEDIA CBC Nova Scotia is
expanding its suppertime
newscast to 90 minutes
from 60 and changing the
time of when it begins.
The public broadcaster
announced yesterday that
starting on Monday, Aug.
31, a new 90-minute newscast would take place each
weeknight from 5 to 6:30
p.m. The show will be
made up of three segments:
CBC News: Nova Scotia at 5
p.m., CBC News: Halifax at
5:30 p.m. and CBC News:
Nova Scotia at 6 p.m.
Tom Murphy, and another co-anchor to be named
in the future, will be leading the 90-minute
newscast.
With this change in news
time, CBC announced that
also starting Aug. 31 Ghost
Whisperer can be seen
weekdays at 4 p.m. Coronation Street at 6:30 p.m.,
Wheel of Fortune at 7 p.m.
and Jeopardy at 7:30 p.m.

metronews.ca

HALIFAX • THURSDAY JULY 30 2009

Metro Homes
Trillium
oﬀers the
ﬁner things
in life
pg 10

KRISTEN LIPSCOMBE
kristen.lipscombe@metronews.ca

The only glimpse yesterday
of the young couple
accused of causing the
injuries that led to their baby’s death was when they
were escorted from Halifax
provincial court into two
separate vans waiting to
take them back to a
Dartmouth jail.
Ashiqur Rahman and
Jane Gomes, both 23 years
old and charged with aggravated assault, were expected in a Spring Garden Road
courtroom yesterday morning but were instead kept in
holding cells while public
defenders briefly appeared
on their behalf.
The two lawyers asked
Judge Marc Chisholm for
the bail hearing to be adjourned until Aug. 12, stating they need more time to
review evidence, especially
since details of
what
happened inside
the couple’s
Gottingen
Street
residence
last
week are still
unfolding.
Public prosecution agreed.
In fact, Halifax Regional
Police said earlier this week
the charges against Rahman and Gomes could be
upgraded to something
more serious, since they
were laid Saturday, a day after they were arrested and
two days before their sevenweek-old daughter died at
the IWK Health Centre in
Halifax.
“Until the investigation is
concluded it’s premature to
comment on what other
charges could be laid,”
Crown attorney Denise
Smith said outside the
courtroom.

Ashiqur Rahman is escorted out of Halifax Provincial court yesterday. Rahman and Jane Gomes (inset photo) are charged with aggravated assault against their daughter. The seven-week-old baby
died at the IWK on Monday after spending several days in critical condition.

Currently, the aggravated
assault charges refer to “endangering the life of the infant,” Smith said, adding
autopsy results could take
months.
Nova Scotia legal aid
lawyer John Black confirmed yesterday he’s representing Rahman, while his
colleague Lyle Elkins is representing Gomes, until the
two accused can retain
their own defence.

Elkins declined to talk to
reporters,
but
Black
stopped to say his client is
having a hard time behind
bars at the Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Dartmouth.
“He’s lost an infant child,
he’s in jail (and) he’s out of
contact with his partner, so
(it’s) a very difficult time.”
Rahman and Gomes, believed to be from Bangladesh and staying in Cana-

da on student visas, were
living in a room above The
Good Food Emporium
restaurant when they called
9-1-1- last Thursday night to
report their injured baby.
Landlord Bob Trenaman
said Tuesday the couple
seemed bright and had “big
dreams” of starting a software business. Both had
studied computer science at
Wolfville’s Acadia University.

KRISTEN LIPSCOMBE
kristen.lipscombe@metronews.ca
REPORT Jonny Stevens wasn’t surprised to learn
yesterday that Halifax has
been named one of the
“top Canadian hotspots for
young, talented workers”
in a report
released
Rankings
this week. Top 10 in Canada
Stevens,
29,
1. Victoria
secured
2. Ottawa
himself a 3. Vancouver
sweet gig 4. Kingston, Ont.
working as 5. Halifax
the educa- 6. Toronto
tion and
7. Calgary
events co- 8. Saskatoon
ordinator 9. London, Ont.
for Music 10. Edmonton
Nova
Scotia, while teaching music management classes on
the side, and loves
everything his hometown
has to offer.
“There’s a really good
vibe that happens in HRM,”
he said, after reading a
study by Next Generation
Consulting that shows Halifax is ranked fifth in the
country and first in
Atlantic Canada out of 27
cities for having assets that
attract people between the
ages of 20 and 40.
The Waverley Road resident said he landed his
jobs my scouring employment postings and “a little
word of mouth.”
“I think there are lots of
opportunities in Halifax,”
Stevens said. “You just have
to be willing to go out and
hustle for them.”
Fusion Halifax
chairwoman Alyson
Queen, 31, said yesterday
the Next Cities report is
great news for young professionals but added community, business and government have to work together to make Halifax increasingly attractive for
young people “to live,
work, play and stay.”

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metronews.ca

Thursday, July 30, 2009

metro

3

Construction started on $21.6 million interchange project
Work began yesterday on the $21.6 million project to build an interchange on Highway 102 to connect with Larry Uteck Boulevard between Bedford and Halifax.
Construction is expected to take about one year to complete with the project involving the building of an overpass and ramps with roundabouts. METRO HALIFAX

Nova Scotia country music star George Canyon, left, is in line for more hardware. It was announced in Toronto
yesterday that Canyon has been nominated for five Canadian Country Music Association Awards. The
nominations are for single of the year, album of the year, CMT video of the year, male artist of the year and the
fans’ choice award. Canyon’s five nominations are second only to popular country Scotsman Johnny Reid, who
is up for six awards. Jason Priestley is hosting the awards show on Sept. 13 in Vancouver.
METRO HALIFAX

MLAs to get
$8K more
Nova Scotians can access non-emergency medical advice 24-7
to gas up

Tele-health 8-1-1 launched

PHILIP CROUCHER/METRO HALIFAX

you’re looking
to beat the heat by swimming at Kinsmen Beach,
think again.
The Halifax Regional
Municipality announced
yesterday that the beach
located on First Lake in
Sackville has been closed
temporarily to swimmers
because of high bacteria
levels in the water.
No timeframe was given on when the beach
would re-open. For information on when
swimming will resume
and any other beach closures, go to
www.halifax.ca/rec/beach
es.html.
METRO HALIFAX

Canyon picks up five nominations

HILARY BEAUMONT
for Metro Halifax

Questions about a runny
nose or a stubbed toe?
Well, you can now dial
8-1-1.
A new 24-hour, seven-daya week non-emergency telecare service kicked off yesterday for Nova Scotians
who have health worries.
People can call HealthLink
8-1-1 to speak to a registered nurse about any nonemergency health issues,
from symptoms of Influenza A (H1N1), also known as
swine flu, to questions
about diet and exercise.
And if nurses deem that
you have a medical emergency, you’ll be immediately forwarded to 9-1-1.
“Nova Scotians can pick
up the phone and dial 8-1-1
and be confident that the
health advice and information will be waiting on the
other end of the line,”
Health Minister Maureen
MacDonald said yesterday
prior to the service’s 3 p.m.
launch.
MacDonald said the timing for this launch works
well because HealthLink
will address the many concerns Nova Scotians have
about H1N1.
The new service will cost

Health Minister Maureen MacDonald speaks yesterday at a media conference to launch HealthLink
8-1-1, the province’s new 24-hour, seven-day-a week telecare service for people to call looking for
non-emergency health advice.

$6.5 million tax dollars per
year and was originally proposed by the province’s former Conservative government. MacDonald said the
NDP reviewed the plan before adopting it.
A report from Health Nova Scotia sets the target
number of calls per year at
80,000 by 2010 and 100,000
by 2011. That’s just over $81
per call by 2010 and $65 per
call the next year.
But Kyle Buott, co-ordinator of the Nova Scotia Citi-

Nurses on call
• About 20 full-time and another 20 part-time nurses
have been hired, with the
government hoping to recruit several more bilingual
nurses within the next
month. Nova Scotia is the
second-to-last province to
launch a tele-health system.

zens’ Health Care Network,
said the government handed
the contract of running this

service to a private company
from the United States
rather than offering it to the
public sector. Buott believes
the system could be done
publicly for a lower cost.
“We agree with the telehealth service,” Buott said.
“We’ve been advocating for
it since 2003. Our main concern is actually the way it’s
going to be delivered. Allowing a for-profit company to
deliver vital health services
is a very slippery slope for
the province.”

HealthLink service accessible in rural, urban areas
Health officials said yesterday they expect callers to 81-1 will not have to wait
more than 20 seconds before
speaking to a registered
nurse.
If they do wait longer,
they will be able to leave a
message and a nurse will re-

turn their call. Nurses won’t
be diagnosing callers, but
will refer them to an appropriate service.
“HealthLink 8-1-1 is accessible for all Nova Scotians,
rural and urban,” Health
Minister Maureen MacDonald said yesterday.

After dialing the number,
callers will hear a message
that asks them to call 9-1-1 if
it is an emergency. Then
they will be re-directed to a
registered nurse who will
ask them questions to determine how severe their
symptoms are, on a tertiary

scale. If there are severe
symptoms, the nurse will
redirect the caller to 9-1-1.
“This is not a service to replace emergency care, so if
someone is in an emergency
and calls the line, it would
be redirected to 9-1-1,” MacDonald said.

MILEAGE Gas prices may be

down, but a government
board approved an extra
$8,000 in gas mileage money for provincial politicians
yesterday.
Though gas prices are
about 40 cents per litre
cheaper than they were
this time last year, mileage
for civil service employees
went up by 0.4 cents per
litre. Yesterday the Internal
Economy Board approved
the same increase for
MLAs.
The cost for the 52 MLAs
so far, retroactive back to
April 1, is about $8,000 according to speaker of the
house Charlie Parker.
The mileage rate for employees and politicians
went from 40.51 cents per
litre to 40.92 cents per
litre. If you do the math, it
means MLAs have travelled
about 200,000 km in the
last four months.
“It surprisingly adds up.
Members travel from
Yarmouth to Halifax, from
Glace Bay to Halifax several
times a month,” he said.
Parker said the mileage
rate went up because it is
tied to the cost of living index, not just the price of
gas.“There’s other costs to
it,” he said. “Your
insurance, your repairs,
capital costs and so on.”
The Internal Economy
Board meeting was
Parker’s first since becoming Speaker after the NDP
election victory.
Auditor General Jacques
Lapointe is currently auditing the speaker’s office and
its $32 million budget. A report is expected in the fall.
PAUL MCLEOD/METRO HALIFAX

metronews.ca

metro

4 local

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Man hit by vehicle: Police
A man received undetermined head injuries after Halifax Regional Police say he was struck by a vehicle traveling in bound on the Bedford Highway near the
Windsor Street exchange. The pedestrian, who was ticketed for not crossing in a crosswalk, is believed to have minor injuries. METRO HALIFAX

FRAZER HARRISON/GETTY IMAGES

Green group wants to axe axeman
PAUL MCLEOD
paul.mcleod@metronews.ca

Environmental
groups want to axe a member from a government
panel because he’s in the
business of axing trees.
The panel is supposed to
create a new natural resources strategy for the
province. The member in
question
is
Jonathan
Porter, an executive at
pulp and woodcutting
company Bowater Mersey
Paper Company.
The Ecology Action Centre and Sierra Club of
Canada say it’s a conflict of
interest to have a paper
company executive on a
board that’ll be making
recommendations for rules
governing paper companies.
“Nova Scotians were
PANEL

promised a fair and unbiased public review of Natural Resources management
in this province and this is
not it,” Ecology Action
Centre spokesman Raymond Plourde said in a
press release.
“It is outrageous. The
conflict of interest is builtin and obvious. There is no
way Mr. Porter can separate the interests of his
company from the broader
public interest.”
An independent steering
group chaired by former
Chief Justice Constance
Glube picked the 12-member panel.
Environment Minister
John MacDonell said he
won’t kick Porter off the
board because he doesn’t
want to micromanage the
arms-length group.
He said all sides are represented — including at

least one member recommended by the Ecology Action Centre — and ultimately the policy will be
determined by government.
“When it comes to policy the buck stops with
me,” he said. “It’s my intention to see that we do
move forward in the 21st
century. If I think the
forestry strategy might be
lacking I feel I have a role
there.”
The Forest Products Association of Nova Scotia
sent out a rival release expressing their disappointment on the environmental groups’ “personal attack” on Porter.
They said the board was
looking for a broad range
of interests and expertise
in forestry, which Porter’s
years of experience provide.

Bush’s presence confirmed at business event
HARB’R Former U.S.
president George W. Bush
was the keynote speaker at
a business networking
event held at Fox Harb’r
Resort on Monday.
On Saturday, the Truro
Daily News first reported

FOX

that rumours of his visit
were circulating throughout the region.
The annual event, which
brings together senior
business and political leaders from across North
America, has been hosted

by former New Brunswick
premier Frank McKenna
for the past nine years.
Residents living in the areas surrounding the resort
noticed an increased presence of security during the
meeting.
TRURO DAILY NEWS

Musicians Sammy Hagar, right, and Joe Satriani of Chickenfoot perform at The Roxy Theatre on
May 19 in West Hollywood, Calif., in this file photo. Chickenfoot is performing in Halifax on Sunday.

What happens when a
couple former members of
Van Halen, a Red Hot Chili
Peppers drummer and a
guitar virtuoso who’s performed with rock’s biggest
names get together for a
jam session at the Palms
in Las Vegas?
Some might call it musical magic, but guitarist Joe
Satriani and his three
bandmates call it Chickenfoot.
“When we played, it was
just crazy and explosive,
yet it was very tight,” Satriani said earlier this week
of his spontaneous performance with lead singer
Sammy Hagar, bassist
Michael Anthony and
drummer Chad Smith back
in February 2008, hatching
a brand new band that

Chickenfoot this weekend
at Canadian Forces Halifax
Rock Fest 2009, also featuring Our Lady Peace, Finger
Eleven and Sloan. General
admission tickets are $75,
or $65 each for the military
community.

may very well epitomize
the classic rock sound.
Satriani said that “chemistry” kept all four musicians coming back for
more, leading to demo sessions, a self-titled debut album released last month
and now a tour, with the
North American stretch
kicking off in Halifax this
Sunday.
“Everybody was listening to the other three going ‘this is unique, this is
different, this is not a su-

pergroup — it’s a new
group,’” he told Metro Halifax over a telephone interview.
A “supergroup” is something dreamed up by a
record label hoping to
build a band that “will be
larger than the sum of
their parts,” Satriani said,
explaining Chickenfoot is
different because “it was
purely the music” that
brought the talented musicians together.
“This was a band that
was playing in a Mexican
bar,” he said.
“The only reason why we
kept going was because we
liked it.”
Satriani said the band
hopes to recreate that first
jam session on Citadel Hill
this weekend, adding he’s
never been to Halifax, so
he and his bandmates may
be
spotted
“walking
around like tourists.”

Ferry fire forces end to trip
RETURNED A fire on board a
Marine Atlantic ferry heading to Port aux Basque early yesterday morning,
forced the vessel to return
to North Sydney.
The fire was discovered
in the thermal heating
unit of the MV Atlantic Vision at around 6:30 a.m.; a
little over an hour into the
crossing.
It was contained to the
boiler room.
Many of the over 600
passengers were asleep in
their cabins and awoke to

the ship’s announcement
that there was an incident
on board the vessel.
“When the alarm first
went off we thought, oh, a
wake up call. But quickly
realized that it wasn’t, that
it was a ship’s announcement,”
said
Roxanne
Chisholm, who along with
her husband Andrew, were
on their way to Baie Vert
Peninsula.
“They told us that the
boat wasn’t sinking. That
everything was under control, but that we were

heading back.”
The MV Joseph and Clara
Smallwood, which was
originally scheduled to go
to Argentina, was expected
to depart at 2:15 p.m. yesterday for Port aux Basques
with passengers and vehicles from the Atlantic Vision.
Marine Atlantic’s marine
superintendent Keith Hopkins said this is the second
incident involving a fire in
the thermal heating units
on board the Atlantic Vision.
CAPE BRETON POST

metronews.ca

Thursday, July 30, 2009

metro

5

His company’s bankrupt, he’s out on bail
The company of Montreal investment adviser Earl Jones has been declared bankrupt by a Quebec court,
CBC News Online reports. Jones is out on bail, charged with fraud and theft. METRO NEWS SERVICES

Smooth sailing

Canada/World
Here’s the tale of
three Summers across the
country.
Aaron Summer of Burnaby, B.C., is melting in a
record-breaking heat wave.
In Stoney Creek, Ont.,
rain is once again spitting
on Warren Summer.
And Rosemary Summers
of Newfoundland is basking in the sun — for now.
Wondering where summer went?
“It’s all on that side of
the country,” said Warren
Summer. “You can keep it.
I don’t want it that hot, but
a little good weather
would be nice.”
Meteorologist Gary Dickinson with Environment
Canada said Vancouver is
getting a Toronto-like heat
wave with T.O. humidity.

CHRIS WATTIE/REUTERS

O Canada!
B.C.’s getting
all the heat
WEATHER

TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE

News in brief
WARMING Regions of Arctic

tundra around the world are
heating up rapidly, releasing
more greenhouse gases than
predicted and boosting the
process of global warming,
says Greg Henry, a professor at
the University of British
Columbia.
REUTERS

Defence Minister Peter MacKay tosses an apple in the air as he
leaves a Conservative caucus meeting in Ottawa yesterday.

Top parties in dead heat: Poll
POLITICS The political rhetoric is still flying, but are
Canadians listening?
A survey by Angus Reid
Strategies shows the federal Liberals with 34 per cent
support and the Conservatives with 33 per cent — a
statistical dead heat.
The result is a warning
for any party thinking of
plunging into a fall elec-

tion: No wind of change is
blowing across Canada.
And it shows the economy is still a top concern.
The poll has a margin of
error of 3.1 percentage
points. The NDP was at 16
per cent support. The Bloc
Québécois was at 10 per
cent and the Green party 7
per cent.
TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE

yippy!

The federal government plans to spend $40
billion over the next 30 years to build as many as
50 large ships, CBC News Online reports.
METRO
NEWS
SERVICES

Decency law challenged
Sudanese woman prepared to give up UN immunity to fight
A Sudanese woman facing
40 lashes for wearing
pants in public made her
first appearance in a court
packed with supporters
yesterday, in what her
lawyer described as a test
case in Sudan’s decency
laws.
There
were
chaotic
scenes as Lubna Hussein, a
former journalist who
works for the United Nations, attended the hearing
wearing the same green
slacks that got her arrested
for immodest dress.
Indecency cases are not
uncommon in Sudan. But
Hussein has attracted attention by publicizing her case,
inviting journalists to hearings and using it to campaign against dress codes
sporadically imposed in the

Foreign attention
• The trial in Khartoum was
also attended by representatives of the embassies of
Canada, France, Sweden
and Spain, alongside politicians and members of the
Sudanese Women’s Union.
capital.
The case was adjourned
yesterday as lawyers discussed whether her status
as a UN employee gave her
legal immunity.
After the hearing, defence lawyer Nabil Adib Abdalla said Hussein had
agreed to resign from the
United Nations in time for
the next session on Aug. 4
to make sure the case continued.

“First of all she wants to
show she is totally innocent, and using her immunity will not prove that,”
Abdalla told reporters. “Second she wants to fight the
law. The law is too wide. It
needs to be reformed ... This
is turning into a test case.
Human rights groups will
be watching this closely.”
He said Hussein was
ready to face the maximum
penalty for the criminal offence of wearing indecent
dress in public which was
40 lashes and an unlimited
fine.
“Thousands of women
are punished with lashes in
Sudan but they stay silent,”
Hussein said. “The law is being used to harass women
and I want to expose this.”
REUTERS

10,000 missing,Uighurs say

Israel allows
cement into Gaza

days, state media said. None
have been publicly charged.
China has accused Kadeer of
triggering the riots and of
spreading misinformation.
“The
nearly
10,000
(Uighur) people who were at
the protest, they disappeared from Urumqi in one
night,” she told a news conference in Tokyo.
REUTERS

MIDDLE EAST Israel will allow

CHINA Nearly 10,000 Uighurs
involved in deadly riots in
China’s Xinjiang region
went missing in one night,
exiled Uighur activist Rebiya
Kadeer said yesterday, calling for an investigation.
More than 1,000 people
were detained in the immediate aftermath of the riots,
and over 200 more in recent

some cement into the Gaza
Strip for reconstruc-tion, officials said yesterday,
signalling flexibility on a
blockade as the U.S. intensified efforts to broker peace.
After Hamas seized Gaza in
2007, Israel curbed imports
that could be used to make
arms or bunkers.
REUTERS

Step aboard Maritime-built boats
July 31st - August 2 nd

The Best Halifax has to Offer
Congratulations to Gordon Warner –
this month’s winner of a Metro’s Koolest
Voter prize! Gordon can pick up his prize pack
at the Kool FM offices on Agricola Street!

o celebrate the impending nuptials of
a dear friend, nine
of us headed to a
cabin in rural Quebec for a bachelorette weekend. We sunned ourselves
on a dock, ate a variety of

artisanal cheeses, played a
few spirited rounds of charades and toasted the bride–
to-be with sparkling wine.
The groom, in the meantime, was swept off by his
buddies to participate in the
time-honoured tradition of
ogling nubiles in various
states of undress.
If the men were the
movie The Hangover, we
were Oprah’s Book Club.
It makes me question the
long-held wisdom of one
Cyndi Lauper: Do girls just
wanna have fun? Or would
they rather have sedate

On the web
• For more views on
relating, go to Love Bytes
at metronews.ca/blogs

martinis, gripe about their
boyfriends and hit the sack
at a reasonable hour?
This is not to say that
many bachelorette parties
aren’t wild and crazy
events. But it seems to me
that even the most out-ofcontrol bachelorettes don’t
hold a candle to the most
unhinged bachelor parties.
Beth Montemurro is an

associate professor of sociology at Penn State University. In her book Something
Old, Something Bold: Bridal
Showers and Bachelorette
Parties, Montemurro points
out that bachelor parties
are historically about making the most of the groom’s
final hours of freedom and
a supposed reluctance to let
that go. Bachelorettes seem
more akin to “pep rallies …
increasing excitement and
anticipation” of the main
event: The wedding.
“The most important part
of the bachelorette party

for women I interviewed
was about spending time
with their friends,” Montemurro told Metro via email.
“Women were less interested or aroused by the sexual
elements of bachelorette
parties (e.g. going to strip
clubs) and more often
found them to be embarrassing or funny.”
In summation, the vital
differences are as follows:
Bachelorette parties? A female bonding ritual that
satirizes sexuality.
Bachelor parties? Last call
for fun, fellas!

When my time comes, I
hope my ladies know me
well enough that they
won’t bust out the tiaras,
tulle and exotic dancers
named Rico. Ideally, I’d
want my bachelorette to be
held at a karaoke dive. My
friends and I would bask in
one another’s delightful
company and regale each
other with the sweet, sweet
sounds of Journey.
I might even drink.
Sofi Papamarko is a 20-something writer
based in Toronto. Her heroes include
Desmond Morris and Nancy Sinatra.

If the picture of family dysfunction emerging from St.
Leonard, Que., about the
Shafia family scares you, find
comfort with the many
Canadians that have, too.
Mohammed Shafia, his
wife and their son are
charged with the deaths of
Shafia children Zainab, 19,
Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, and
Rona Amir Mohammad, 52,

after the four were found
dead inside a submerged car
in a Rideau Canal lock. Rona,
initially identified as a relative, was Shafia’s first wife.
A man claiming to be
Rona’s sibling said she wanted a divorce, which the man
of the house would not
grant. He also banned her
from using the phone, took
her passport and threatened
to beat her, the relative
claims. Zainab had taken a
romantic interest in a Pakistani boy against her family’s wishes; she reportedly
ran away in the spring.
Kingston police Chief
Stephen Tanner stopped
short of calling the deaths
honour killings, but de-

scribed the situation as “cultural issues” between a family and “Canadian teenagers
who have all the freedom
and rights of expression of
all Canadians.”
Federal Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said honour killings are “simply unacceptable,” adding, “We ... encourage people when they
come to Canada to recognize
the importance of Canadian
values.”
Filing the Shafia women’s
deaths
under
“honour
killings” and chalking it up
to an immigrant gone bad
takes away from the responsibility their own kin may
have had in it. Domestic violence crosses all boundaries.

In a broader context, these
deaths show violence against
women happens in spite of
our milquetoast, utopic values, especially for the
women who needed the help
most. The warning signs
were clear. For an entire generation, the Canadian Dream
is turning out to be a farce.
Post-Trudeauism, does the
promise of multiculturalism
lie in a lock? If the public’s
visceral, instant judgment of
the Shafias is any indication,
those that don’t are not welcome here. Out of many, one
discordance.
Canice Leung is a former editor of Ryerson
University feminist magazine McClung’s,
copy editor at Metro, ardent feminist
and loudmouth.

Tell us your views by email to halifaxletters@metronews.ca or comment on metronews.ca or on Twitter @metrohalifax
Letters must include sender’s full name, address and phone number – street name and phone numbers will NOT be published. We reserve the right to edit letters.

People walk past Yahoo!
offices in Santa Monica, Calif.,
after the Microsoft deal was
announced.

Microsoft,
Yahoo go
on warpath
WEB SEARCH Microsoft

and
Yahoo have inked a 10year web search deal to
challenge market leader
Google.
But they stopped short
of combining their display
advertising businesses.
Yahoo shares fell 11 per
cent as some investors
were disappointed by the
limited scope of the deal.
The companies are
“hopeful” the deal can
close in early 2010.

Ottawa holds
off on Nortel
Industry Minister Tony
Clement won’t be rushed
over Nortel Networks’
technology sale.
No decision on whether
to review the $1.13 billion
sale of wireless assets to
Sweden’s Ericsson will be
made until after a 21-day
appeal period, he said yesterday.
“We have to first consider whether the Investment

Spring G

Canada Act applies, that’s
what we're reviewing right
now,” Clement said in Ottawa.
The federal government
has been lobbied by
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion to block
the sale.
RIM argues that keeping
Nortel’s technology in
Canada is vital to national
security.
REUTERS

Argos send Bruce to Hamilton
The Toronto Argonauts have traded slotback Arland Bruce III to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, less than a week after leaving him out of a game for disciplinary reasons.
In return, the Ticats sent defensive lineman Corey Mace, a third-round pick next year and a conditional pick in the 2011 draft to Toronto. METRO NEWS SERVICES

Sports

Michael Phelps, left, bounced back from a stunning loss to set a
world record in the 200-metre butterfly at the world swimming
championships yesterday. One night after he was soundly beaten by
Germany’s Paul Biedermann in the 200 freestyle, Phelps got back on
track with a time of one minute 51.51 seconds — more than a halfsecond ahead of his previous mark, 1:52.03.
METRO NEWS SERVICES

Running back to Saskatoon
Group prefers prairie city to Halifax, tickets may average $100
A proposal to move five of
the Phoenix Coyotes’
home games to either
Saskatoon or Halifax each
season was greeted with
mixed reviews from the
NHL yesterday.
Ice Edge Holdings, a collection of Canadian and
American businessmen intending to buy the Coyotes
out of bankruptcy court,

was interviewed by the
NHL’s power brokers at an
airport hotel in Chicago.
It was, essentially, a
chance for the league executives to get a feel for what
the group would be like as a
franchise owner.
The key questions directed at the Ice Edge group
centred around a innovative
business plan that would

see the Coyotes play a handful of games each season in
Canada in order to subsidize the team’s survival in
Arizona. The group is leaning towards taking those
games to the 14,750-seat
Credit Union Centre in
Saskatoon over the 10,500seat Metro Centre in Halifax.
“We walked through our

plan as it related to playing
five games somewhere
else,”
said
Ice
Edge
spokesperson Daryl Jones.
“I think some (of the executives) thought it was an
interesting idea; some people were less positive. But,
in general, I think they understood the cash-flow rationale behind it.”
Jones said executives at

Credit Union Centre told
him tickets would likely be
sold for an average of $100
each with the expectation
of a sellout. At Jobing.com
Arena, the venue in Glendale where the Coyotes play
now, tickets sold for an average of $37.45 US last season. Phoenix averaged
14,875 fans at its home
games last season.
“I think they were intrigued by the idea,” Jones
said. “They wanted to hear
our rationale for doing it.
But it’s a long way from getting approved, if it does get
approved.”

Balsillie rejected
• The National Hockey
League yesterday rejected
Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie’s application for ownership of the Phoenix Coyotes.

Bill Daly, the NHL’s
deputy commissioner, said
the league remains openminded on the proposal.
“It was discussed and vetted,” he said in an email.
“No conclusions have been
reached.”
TORSTAR NEWS SERVICES

Dal forward on Team Atlantic
Sarah McVey of the Dalhousie Tigers will compete for Team Atlantic at the Chowder Cup women’s hockey tournament in Foxboro,
Mass., starting today. McVey, a sophomore forward, had one assist in 24 games last season. METRO NEWS SERVICES

It’s no secret the Halifax
Rainmen would benefit
from a Maritime
neighbour in the Premier
Basketball League.
Now that Andre Levingston has been named the
PBL’s first director of business operations in Canada,
you can bet the Rainmen
owner will exhaust all of his
options.
Levingston was hired yesterday to head up the
league’s effort to expand
north of the border, with
only two Canadian teams —
the Rainmen and Quebec

City Kebs — at present.
Although Levingston said
he has yet to “pinpoint” any
cities specifically, he confirmed Moncton will be
worth a look when he eventually sinks his teeth into
his new job.
“I actually think a professional basketball team
could be successful in Moncton,” Levingston said. “The
city has a lot to offer, as do a
few others I can think of off
the top of my head.”
The Rainmen’s closest rivals — the Kebs, Manchester (N.H.) Millrats and Vermont Frost Heaves — are all
more than 1,000 kilometres
away, a significant distance
for a league that relies heav-

“We need to make
sure potential
owners are taking
it seriously.”
Andre Levingston
ily on vans and buses for
transportation.
The Rainmen are on the
hook for a significant percentage of travel expenses
for teams visiting the city.
“Travel is always going to
be an issue with the Rainmen,” said Levingston. “To
have teams that are not
close, but not far, that could
be a rival for Halifax, or be a
stop for teams on their way

to Halifax, definitely makes
business sense.”
Levingston said his first
task is to travel around to
find out which cities are capable of supporting a PBL
team. Then he’ll start working with potential ownership groups.
“We need to make sure
potential owners are taking
it seriously, that it’s not just
some hobby they’re doing
on the side, because we’re
serious about what we’re
doing,” Levingston said. “It’s
a great league and we want
to keep it that way.”
He said the job won’t
change his role with the
Rainmen, adding that the
team is his “first priority.”

Andre Levingston has been named the Premier Basketball
League’s first director of business operations in Canada.

STYLE3
STYLE2

STYLE4
STYLE5

STYLE1

Sports in brief
FORMULA ONE Seven-time Formula One world champion
Michael Schumacher will replace injured driver Felipe
Massa at Ferrari if he passes a
fitness test, the team said yesterday. The German, now 40
years old, retired from Formula One at the end of 2006. All
being well, he will make his
comeback in Valencia, Spain,
next month.
SWIMMING Zhang Lin obliterated the world record to steam
to victory in the men’s 800-metre freestyle and become China’s first male swimming
world champion yesterday.
Zhang finishing in a breathtaking time of seven minutes,
32.12 seconds, taking more
than six seconds off the mark

of 7:38.65 set by retired former
world champion Grant Hackett
of Australia in 2005.
BASEBALL Ken Griffey Jr. hit a
pair of doubles, including the
eventual game-winning tworun double in the bottom of
the seventh, as the Seattle
Mariners edged the Toronto
Blue Jays 3-2 in the rubber
match of a three-game series
at Safeco Field yesterday. Roy
Halladay (11-4) went seven
frames, allowing three runs
on a season-high 11 hits with
six strikeouts to take the loss.
This could have been
Halladay’s last start in a
Toronto uniform as trade rumours continue to swirl
before the Friday deadline.
METRO NEWS SERVICES

Phillies trade for Indians ace Lee
The World Series
champion
Philadelphia
Phillies bolstered their
pitching depth by acquiring
Cy Young winner Cliff Lee in
a trade with the Cleveland
Indians yesterday.
The Phillies, who lead the
National League East by seven games over Florida, sent
four prospects to Cleveland
for left-hander Lee, who is 79 with a 3.14 ERA this season after claiming AL Cy
Young honours with a 22-3
mark in 2008.
Philadelphia also received
outfielder Ben Francisco in
return for Class A right-hander Jason Knapp and Triple
A right-hander Carlos CarBASEBALL

Sanchez a Giant
• The San Francisco Giants
acquired veteran infielder
Freddy Sanchez in a swap
with the Pittsburgh Pirates,
the teams said yesterday.

rasco, catcher Lou Marson
and shortstop Jason Donald.
The deal is pending medical reviews, Major League
Baseball website mlb.com
reported.
Cleveland, with a 42-59
record, trail Central Division leading Detroit Tigers
by 11 games in the standings.

The Phillies have been
searching for starting pitching help in their campaign
to defend the Series crown,
and Francisco fills a need for
a power-hitting right-handed bat off the bench. He hit
.250 with 10 homers for
Cleveland this season.
Philadelphia had been rumoured to be in the hunt
for Blue Jays hurler Roy Halladay and were able to make
the trade with the Indians
without parting with three
young players Toronto had
expressed interest in — lefthander J.A. Happ, right-hander Kyle Drabek and outfielder Dominic Brown.
REUTERS

Sports in brief
BASKETBALL East Preston’s Justine Colley is on her way to the
quarterfinals with Canada at
the FIBA world women’s under19 basketball championship in
Bangkok, Thailand. The fivefoot-nine guard had one point,
six rebounds and two assists in
Canada’s 75-67 victory over China yesterday. Canada advanced
to the quarterfinals against unbeaten Australia.
UNIVERSITY The Saint Mary’s
Huskies have named Mark
Sweetapple head coach of their
women’s soccer team. Sweetapple served as National Training Centre head coach for
Atlantic Canada from 2005 to
2008. The Huskies also named
Darren Russell women’s volleyball head coach. METRO HALIFAX

Former Subways player Six from Nova Scotia Bennett ‘leaning toward’
lands tryout with Wild representing Canada signing with Belgian team
through campaign with the
HOCKEY Former Dartmouth
Subways star Michael Kirk- Sea Dogs.
“Getting drafted is
patrick has landed an
one way to get to the
NHL tryout with the
next level and tryMinnesota Wild.
outs are another
The Saint John Sea
way,”
Kirkpatrick
Dogs forward, origitold the Saint John
nally from North SydTelegraph-Journal.
ney, will make his bid
“I’m going to go
for a contract at an
hard and try to imNHL prospects tournapress them.”
ment in Traverse City, Michael
Kirkpatrick was
Mich., from Sept. 6 to Kirkpatrick
named most im10.
Kirkpatrick, 19, has been proved player and best
passed over in back-to-back penalty killer in Metro Halidrafts but produced 34 goals fax’s QMJHL East Division
and 30 assists for 64 points coaches poll. MATTHEW WUEST
in 67 games in a break/METRO HALIFAX

MATTHEW WUEST
matthew.wuest@metronews.ca
CANOE-KAYAK Six Nova Scotia athletes will hit the
water in Moscow tomorrow for the junior world
sprint canoe-kayak championships.
The Bluenosers are part
of a 16-person contingent
that will be representing
Canada at the Krylatskoye
Rowing Centre in what
will be the first international paddling regatta
held in Russia since the
1980 Summer Olympic

Games.
Kayakers Adam Tenwolde and Patrick Vaughan and canoeists Mark
James and Jason McCoombs, all from Dartmouth, are on the men’s
roster, while Fall River’s
Michelle
Russell
and
Kentville’s Alexa Irving
are on the women’s kayak
team.
At the last junior worlds
in 2007 in Racice, Czech
Republic, Connor Taras of
Waverley and Lyall Hatton
of Bedford won a silver
medal in the K-2 500 metres.

MATTHEW WUEST
matthew.wuest@metronews.ca

The Halifax
Rainmen’s top scorer is
eyeing a contract overseas
and could have a new
home next season.
Guard Tony Bennett,
who averaged 19.4 points
per game last season, told
Metro Halifax yesterday he
is “leaning toward a deal
in Belgium.” He said he
wants to decide soon because he doesn’t want to
“hold (the Rainmen) up
any longer.”

BASKETBALL

Rainmen owner Andre
Levingston is still negotiating with Bennett and has
labelled the speedster as
his top priority to re-sign
in his effort to build a
championship team.
Bennett was 13th in Premier Basketball League
scoring in 2009 and led the
circuit with 3.1 steals per
game.
Levingston confirmed he
has tabled contract offers
to a number of players as
he looks to start shaping
his 2010 roster, but said he
has not agreed to terms
with anyone yet.

metronews.ca

metro

10

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Cooking under to noon-day sun
HGTV’s outdoor living marathon will be kicked off at noon, Aug. 3, with an encore edition of Sizzling Outdoor
Kitchens. Tune in to see the Top 10 outdoor culinary workshops in the country. METRO NEWS SERVICES

Metro Homes

HGTV holiday marathon
HGTV is hitting the outdoors with a bang this coming holiday
Monday. From noon to 5 p.m., the station will be focusing all
it’s programming efforts on outdoor living — from landscape
don’ts to over-the-top-RVs and boats to some innovative ways
to use previously wasted rooftop space. Tune in this civic holiday Aug. 3 for the whole series.
METRO NEWS SERVICES

When you walk into a
suite at The Trillium on
South Park, there will be
no mistaking the feel of
elegance. And that’s exactly the kind of first impression developers are
counting on.
“The foyer is luxurious,” said Roberto Menendez, design director at
W.M. Fares Group. “The
doors are solid wood, bordered with wood and
stainless steel columns.”
Step further inside the
suite, onto the glossy
black floor, and you’ll be
awed by the staggering
views of downtown Halifax through an entire
wall of windows.
Already packed your
bags? Well, you’ll need to
use your imagination for
a little longer. Expected to
be completed in the fall of
2010, The Trillium on
South Park is a decadent,
high-rise condominium
complex. Right now, it’s
little more than a construction
zone,
but
prospective owners are
already dreaming about
what it’s going to
be

like to live there.
“Every suite is a unique
architectural piece, but
they are all spacious with
an open concept,” said
Menendez, adding that
the key to a good layout is
functionality.
Since
condominiums
are typically one floor,
owners can’t hide unmade beds on a separate
floor while entertaining
friends. They need to
have well-defined social,
recreational and private
areas, with a good flow
between them.
Menendez says Trillium
owners are going to want
to entertain, so having
the kitchen, dining room
and living room flow together was part of the
grand
plan.
Without
walls to break up conversations, someone can be
setting out appetizers on
the island while still chatting with their friends
over on the couch.
“The Trillium appeals
to people who appreciate
the finer things in life,”
said Menendez. “They
travel the world, and they
want to live close to highend restaurants, theatres,
and
gardens.”
Lo-

cated on South Park
Street, its close proximity
to the boutiques and
eateries on Spring Garden
Road ensures owners will
always have entertainment at their fingertips.
And after a night on the
town, sumptuous little
perks like soundproof
suites
and
24-hour
concierge service will
help
them
sleep
soundly.
“The
Trilli-

um is the most luxurious
residential building in
Halifax,” said Menendez,
adding, “it’s the place to
be.”
For more information
on The Trillium on South
Park, visit thetrillium.ca.
Heather Clarke is a Halifax-based writer
with a penchant for pretty things.

902.422.8071

gavin@propertyguys.com
www.PropertyGuys.com

The Trillium on South Park condominium is expected to be completed in the fall of 2010.

So … what happens
when one of us dies?
LegalMatters
Elias
Metlej
metronews.ca/legalmatters

T

Here are some
artist renderings of the
suites and the surroundings of the
Trillium on South Park going up in 2010.

here are different
types of ownership
if two or more people own a property
together.
Understanding the difference is
critical to protect your interest and plan for your future.
“Joint Tenants” describes
the ownership of land by
two or more people where
there is a right of survivorship. When one of the joint
owners dies, his or her
share passes automatically
to the surviving owners.
The right of survivorship is
the most important element of joint tenancy.
As “Tenants In Common,”
each owner has a separate
and divisible interest in the
property. If one person dies,
his or her share does not automatically pass to the surviving owners. Rather, it is
passed on according to the
terms of his or her will and
the Probate Court will tax

the value of the share.
The difference between
joint tenants and tenants in
common can have a significant impact on estate planning matters. Many couples
buy as joint tenants to avoid
estate taxes and related expenses upon the death of a
spouse. If you plan to leave
your interest in a property
to the person that you own
it with, holding title as joint
tenants will allow this to occur immediately and without triggering probate taxes
on death.
However, you may not
want your interest to pass
to a surviving owner. If you
want to leave your share in
an investment property to
your family, as opposed to
your business partner, tenants in common is recommended.
If you own a property,
check your deed to confirm
if you own it as joint tenants or tenants in common.
Fortunately, it is not expensive to change the form of
ownership if it does not
match your needs or intentions.
Elias Metlej is a real estate lawyer with
the Halifax firm Blois Nickerson & Bryson.
You can write to Elias at askelias@yahoo.com

metronews.ca

metro

The Jamie revolution
Jamie’s Food Revolution by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver topped last week’s bestselling cookbook list at Amazon.ca.
In Defense of Food came in second, followed by The UltraMetabolism Cookbook in third. METRO NEWS SERVICES

11

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Food

The Food Network presents a new recipe
application for BlackBerry smartphones that
allows users to connect with their favourite
hosts, recipes and shows, and have access to a
wealth of meal ideas on the go.

To get it
To download the recipe application log onto foodtv.ca
or to access the new mobile
application right from your
BlackBerry smartphone visit
blackberry.com/appworld.

METRO NEWS SERVICES

EDITOR: NINA.DRAGICEVIC@METRONEWS.CA

Personal Gourmet recipe of the month

ROSE REISMAN

Steak and smashed potatoes
LORELLA ZANETTI PHOTO

Tex-Mex Flank Steak with
Corn Salsa
With the sauce and corn
salsa accompaniment, this
is a great Southwestern
dish.
Sautéing the corn gives
it a barbecued flavour. Be
sure to allow time for marinating the steak. Leftovers taste just as good the
next day; either reheat
gently or serve at room
temperature.

Rose Reisman is an author, media
personality, nutritionist, and the inspiration behind a fresh food delivery service,
Personal Gourmet, and new website,
The Art of Living Well. Visit Rose at
rosereisman.com & personalgourmet.ca

Remove the steak from
the marinade, and set the
marinade aside in a small
saucepan.
Preheat the barbecue or
a non-stick grill pan to
medium-high and spray
with cooking oil. Cook the
beef over medium-high
heat for 5 to 8 minutes per
side, or until it’s done to
your liking.
While the steak is cooking, bring the reserved
marinade to a boil and boil
for 5 minutes. Serve the
steak with the sauce and
salsa on the side.

Smashed Potatoes
We all love mashed potatoes, but if you’ve never
had a “smashed” potato,
you’re in for a treat.
Seasoning and baking
turns these flattened potatoes into a crispy, delicious
dish.
PREP TIME: 5 MINUTES
COOK TIME: 45 MINUTES SERVES 4

• pinch paprika
• pinch salt
• 3 tbsp finely chopped
fresh parsley
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to
400ºF. Line a baking sheet
with foil and spray with
cooking oil.
Place the potatoes in a
saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil
for 15 minutes, or just until fork-tender. Drain and
place on the prepared baking sheet. With the palm
of your hand, press the potatoes flat, trying not to
break them (cracks are
normal).
Brush with 1 tbsp of the
olive oil.
Combine the cheese, garlic powder, paprika and
salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle half the mixture over
the potatoes. Bake for 15
minutes. Turn them over,
brush with the remaining
olive oil and sprinkle with
the remaining cheese mixture. Bake for another 15
minutes. Garnish with the
parsley.

MATERIAL
GIRL
These cute cropped booties
combine two fall 2009
trends—leather and the
’80s — which ruled the international catwalks. (They
wouldn’t have been out of
place on Marc Jacobs’s raucous runway.) Add a hit of
colour and you’ve got an
instant dance party
—just add Grace Jones
($125, at Aldo).

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BY METRO READERS
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A Cut Above Renovations
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They are honest, fast and affordable."

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work done in a timely fashion."

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the windows and doors in my house. They really
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Thursday, July 30, 2009

metro

13

Efron, Snow join Gidget
Zac Efron and Brittany Snow are set to star in a remake of Gidget, according to new industry reports. Miley Cyrus is on
board as Gidget in the project, with Efron slated to play her love interest, according to moviehole.net. FEMALEFIRST.CO.UK

Graphic Love

Entertainment

Jennifer Love Hewitt is hoping to
give audiences a fright â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the star is
set to publish her own graphic horror novel. The actress has landed a
deal for a comic book series, The
Music Box.
FEMALEFIRST.CO.UK

55555 A CLASSIC; 5555 EXCELLENT; 555 GOOD; 55 FAIR; 5 POOR

EDITOR: DEAN.LISK@METRONEWS.CA

Ashley Tisdale

La Roux

Kristinia DeBarge

Album: Guilty Pleasure
Label: Warner
Rating: 1 Â˝

Album: La Roux
Label: Polydor/Universal
Rating: 111 Â˝

Album: Exposed
Label: Soda Pop/Island
Rating: 11 Â˝

WHAT DO YOU

ONLY
BRITAIN

THEREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S
NO
SHORTAGE of

get
when
you combine
the
worst
parts of Britney Spears,
Ashlee Simpson and Miley
Cyrus? None other than
High School Musical star
Ashley Tisdale. The actressâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
second record is a complete
disaster, with most of the
songs sounding like outtakes from other peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
records. Masquerade is
Spears to a tee, while the
obnoxious rocker Hot Mess
takes a page out of Pinkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
playbook. Not only is it totally unoriginal, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
cringe-worthy bad.
Bryan Borzykowski/for Metro Canada